Description

Although Mount&Blade: Warband is called a stand-alone expansion pack to Mount&Blade, it is more of an enhanced remake of the original.

As stated, the core single player experience is unchanged to the original. Mount&Blade: Warband still is open-ended, nonlinear and focuses on realistic medieval warfare, combining character development elements with strategy management, exploration of the game world, and full real-time combat. Again the playing field is two-fold with an overhead map of the country where the player only sees figurative representations of castles, towns, own as well as enemy armies, etc., and the 3D real-time battles with up to a total of 150 units on the battlefield.

Both single and multiplayer modes feature improved graphics with motion-capture animations and more detailed textures. Combat itself has also been slightly altered with improved mechanics for soldier morale and the ability to use most throwing weapons in close combat.

New Faction and Diplomacy Features
To the several different non-player character (NPC) kingdoms of the original, a new faction (the Sarranid) has found its way into the game which includes an expansion of the map with a new desert region for the player to explore and conquer. New gameplay mechanics include the ability to become king and create a new faction including convincing lords of other factions to become the players vassals. The player may also upgrade own companions to vassals and grant them lands (applies only to creating a new faction). In addition to becoming king, the player may now also marry a lady (or a lord, if playing a woman) through poetry or bravery, which will open up a whole new range of diplomatic possibilities, if the player is in ownership of a castle or town.

Since the player still has total freedom to do as they wish, several new types of quests are waiting to be found and solved, many new companions are waiting in the taverns and a horde of new equipment to be collected or bought.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer is a new feature previously unavailable in the vanilla version. The game expands many aspects of the core game, improves the overall graphics and features multiplayer for up to 64 people (or bots) in which they can fight their 3D battles in the game modes Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Conquest, Battle, and Siege. Each mode is class-based and the player has to decide whether the player wants to fight as archer, cavalry or infantry. The class choice influences the gear the player starts with, but as in the single player game, the player can always pick up what lies on the ground. Another way to get better gear is to buy it after each death with the money earned through killing enemies.